Bonus payout from tea lady to the first team

WHILE the Brighton and Hove Albion hierarchy began planning how best to invest the £200million windfall they will receive for winning promotion to the Premier League, their staff spent yesterday thinking how they might spend their own bonuses. Thanks to a scheme devised by chairman Tony Bloom and chief executive Paul Barber to incentivise the staff from the start of last season, everyone from the stewards to the directors will receive a promotion bonus equivalent to 10 per cent of their salary in next month’s pay packet. Based on their performance over the last year they could be due a further 10 per cent. One staff member declared a desire to buy an annual bus pass that will make getting to work every day a little bit cheaper. ‘They couldn’t afford one before,’ Rose Read, the club’s head of HR, told

Sportsmail. ‘I’ve heard someone else say they’re going to splash out on a new staircase.’ Jo Goddard, the North Stand receptionist, intends to treat her family to a holiday in America, while Jenny Gower, the head of ticketing and supporter services, has her eye on a smart new kitchen. Read said the club weren’t sure what the person who dresses up as the mascot, Gully, would be treating themselves to. ‘You’re assuming Gully isn’t real, of course,’ she said. Read believes the scheme has created a team ethos within the club, with everyone feeling they have played their part in the success Chris Hughton and the team have enjoyed. The staff get to eat the same food as the players, free of charge, for breakfast and lunch. ‘It’s about staff welfare but also performance,’ she said. ‘The fact is we have very low sickness rates.’ As Goddard and Gower agreed, the staff not only feel valued but enjoy coming to work every day. It is all part of what they call the TEAM Brighton Values, which were drawn up after consulting with staff when they made the move from the Withdean Stadium to the state-ofthe-art Amex Stadium in 2011. Spelling out TEAM, they are ‘treat people well’, ‘exceed expectations’, ‘aim high’ and ‘make it special’. ‘If you want a high performance environment you can’t just focus on the athletes,’ said Barber. ‘When we had our poor season, two and a half seasons ago, and we brought Chris in, we needed to galvanize the staff. The bonus system was a big part of that. But so was providing everyone with healthy food free of charge, and creating an environment where everyone eats in the same place. ‘That said, I think it’s been a diet heavy in caffeine this morning after the celebrations.’ When Brighton made the move to the Amex Stadium, they had a workforce of 30 permanent staff and 180 casuals. Now they have 280 staff and 800 casual employees. ‘But the casual staff members, based on the hours they’ve worked for the club this season, will get the same bonus,’ explained Read. ‘It’s created a real community spirit around the place.’ Even so, business is business and Bloom and Barber now need to work with Hughton in

preparing for life in the top flight for the first time since 1983. They will set out to keep the best players such as Anthony Knockaert and add quality when the transfer market opens. ‘The money in the Premier League does equalise things,’ said Bloom. ‘Money is spent every season at every single club. We have to strengthen, that goes without saying. But we’re not looking to spend huge amounts. We’ll do things on a gradual basis as we have done. ‘We have good players already and we want to strengthen.’